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FIDE World Cup 2023: Opening Ceremony and Press Conference

by Shahid Ahmed - 30/07/2023

The Opening Ceremony of FIDE World Cup and FIDE Women's World Cup 2023 was short and sweet. The entire performance, speech, draw of lots in total lasted barely an hour. It was really well done, considering most of the players in attendance have their Game 1 in a few hours and they need to prepare based on the 'Draw of Lots' colors. Vishy Anand, FIDE Deputy President and WGM Aynur Sofiyeva, Deputy Chair for the State Committee of Family, Women and Children Affairs, drew the colors for Open and Women sections. Before the ceremony, the first official press conference took place in presence of top Azerbaijan players FIDE World Cup 2019 winner - GM Teimour Radjabov, top woman of her country - IM Gunay Mammadzada, the officials Farid Gayibov, Minister of Youth and Sports of Azerbaijan, Arkady Dvorkovich, FIDE President and Mahir Mammedov, President of the Azerbaijan Chess Federation. Round 1.1 starts today from 3 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. Photo: FIDE / Stev Bonhage

Cheparinov, Carlsen and Roebers to start with white pieces, Wenjun gets Black

In the Open section, Ivan Cheparinov, the top player starting in Round 1, as well as Magnus Carlsen, the top player overall and joining in Round 2, will start with White in the first game. In the Women's section, Eline Roebers, the top player starting in Round 1, will have the White pieces in the first game. The overall top player in the women's section, Women's World Champion Wenjun Ju (joining the tournament in Round 2), will start with Black.

Vishy Anand gently pushes the disc to determine the color of the first game of FIDE World Cup 2023 | Photo: FIDE / Stev Bonhage
FIDE World Cup 2023 Draw of Lots by Vishy Anand and WGM Aynur Sofiyeva with IA Laurent Freyd | Video: ChessBase India

Vishy Anand tweeted on being part of the Draw of Lots

First Press Conference of FIDE World Cup 2023 and FIDE Women's World Cup 2023 | Photo: FIDE / Stev Bonhage
I will not reveal exactly the time and location where I will strike - Teimour Radjabov | Video: ChessBase India
Opening Press Conference of FIDE World Cup and FIDE Women's World Cup 2023 | Video: ChessBase India

Opening Ceremony

The opening ceremony was a colorful and exquisite event. Live action performance was complimented with brilliantly crafted graphical representation of chess, almost like a video game having a top-notch animation. Check out some images of it:

The final photo reveals the story which was portrayed. Can you guess what it was? | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

A popular Azerbaijani band performed some melodious instrumental music | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

IA Gopakumar M S will be the first Indian ever to officiate as an arbiter at a FIDE World Cup | Photo: Sagar Shah

Chief Arbiter IA Laurent Freyd conducting the Technical Meeting | Photo: FIDE / Stev Bonhage

For more Technical meeting photos, please click here.

IM Vaishali R and GM Nihal Sarin | Photo: Sagar Shah

IM Divya Deshmukh with her parents | Photo: Sagar Shah

L to R: GM ShyamSundar M, GM Adhiban B, Mr. Sridharan Madhusudhanan (second from right), Ambassador of India to Azerbaijan and Ajay Pandey, Second Secretary | Photo: Sagar Shah

Video Gallery

Nihal Sarin scores 84% in his 12th grade exam! | Video: ChessBase India
Four years later, we meet her again! 17-year-old Eline Roebers is now an IM with 2419 Elo | Video: ChessBase India
The youngest participant of the World Cup 2023 - 14-year-old IM Ediz Gurel from Turkey | Video: ChessBase India
Making a living through being a full-time chess arbiter - IA Laurent Freyd | Video: ChessBase India
Everybody loves Radjabov in Baku | Video: ChessBase India

Round 1.1 pairings for Indian players

GM Harsha Bharathakoti - GM Levan Pantsulaia (GEO)

GM S L Narayanan - IM Providence Oatlhotse (BOT)

GM Luis Fernando Ibarra Chami (MEX) - GM Abhimanyu Puranik

GM Hendersson de La Fuente (AND) - GM Adhiban B

GM Karthik Venkataraman - GM Gregory Kaidanov (USA)

WIM Tianqi Yan (CHN) - WGM Nandhidhaa P V

WGM Mary Ann Gomes - WGM Yaniela Forgas Moreno (CUB)

WGM Priyanka Nutakki - IM Marina Brunello (ITA)

WIM Puteri Munajjah Az-Zahraa (MAS) - IM Divya Deshmukh

FIDE World Cup 2023 Promo | Video: FIDE
FIDE Women's World Cup 2023 Promo | Video: FIDE
Watch FIDE World Cup and FIDE Women's World Cup 2023 Round 1.1 Live Commentary by IM & WGM Irene Sukandar and IM Sagar Shah | Video: FIDE

Links

Schedule

Official site

Pairing brackets

Pairings: Open and Women

Tournament Details


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